The present invention relates to a projectile-propelling toy and a kit therefor, and more particular to such a toy and kit having a plurality of separate and independent propulsion means, at least one of the propulsion means being pneumatic.
In view of the limited interest span of children in any single-concept toy, there has been an attempt to increase the play value of toys by providing multi-concept toys which can convert from one single-concept toy to another single-concept toy or in which the multi-concept toy is separable into a plurality of single-concept toys. Exemplary of the first category is the toy which converts from a building to an action figure (such as a robot) and back again so that the child can play with either the building or the action figure. Exemplary of the second category is a rifle with a detachable bayonet so that the child can play with the bayonetted rifle as one toy, the separated bayonet as a second toy, and the separated rifle as a third toy. From the point of view of the manufacturer/seller of the toy, the multi-concept toy is attractive as the manufacturer/seller has only to manufacture, advertise and sell the single toy rather than two or three separate ones, and because he can charge more than he could for any one of these single-concept toys alone because of the added play value, while still underselling a competitor who must manufacture, advertise and sell an equivalent plurality of the single-concept toys.
Currently toys incorporating pneumatic propulsion means for propelling a projectile from a port are especially popular. The pneumatic propulsion means uses compressed air to project either a rigid projectile out of a port having a resilient seal (which precludes propelling the projectile therefrom until a sufficient pressure has been built up to deform the seal sufficiently to enable the projectile to enable its passage through the deformed seal) or a resilient projectile out of a port having a rigid seal (which precludes propelling the projectile therefrom until sufficient pressure is built up to deform the projectile sufficiently to enable its passage through the rigid seal).
In either case, the pneumatic propulsion means may be either manually-driven or spring-driven. In a manually-driven pneumatic propulsion means, the user compresses the air (typically through an arm motion driving a piston into a cylinder) at the instant that the projectile is being forced past the seal. In other words, the compressing stroke actually drives the projectile through the seal of the port. By way of contrast, in a spring-driven pneumatic propulsion means, the user first manually loads a spring (e.g., by manually compressing or extending the spring) and, then, by releasing the spring, allows the loaded spring to unload, thereby simultaneously compressing the air and forcing the projectile past the seal. One disadvantage of the typical spring-driven pneumatic propulsion means from the aspect of safety is that the spring may be retained in a loaded condition (i.e., with stored energy) until released by a trigger, button or like releasable engaging mechanism when propelling of the projectile is desired. Another disadvantage of a spring-driven pneumatic propulsion means is that the force with which the projectile is driven is limited by the power of the spring, which may be less than the power that even a child can generate directly. Thus it would be desirable to have a multi-concept toy having a convertible pneumatic propulsion means which could be either spring-driven or manually-driven, as desired by the user depending upon the application, his mood, his strength and the like.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a multi-concept projectile-propelling toy which incorporates a plurality of single-concept toys.
Another object is to provide such a toy which includes a plurality of ports and a plurality of propulsion means for propelling a variety of different types of projectiles via the posts, the various propulsion means being separate and independent and at least one being pneumatic.
A further object is to provide a kit which includes such a toy and a magazine which enables repeated firing of projectiles from the various propulsion means without reloading.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a convertible projectile-propelling toy wherein the user can select between manually-driven and spring-driven pneumatic propulsion means for added play valve.